All equal in this federal court

Published 5:20 pm, Tuesday, June 10, 2014

The three Bridgeport police officers who in 2011 viciously stomped an already incapacitated man in broad daylight in a city park -- an outrage that became a YouTube sensation -- are headed for justice.

One of them, Elson Morales was in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport Tuesday and was in the process of pleading guilty when District Judge Jeffrey Meyer, uneasy with what he called the "fire drill environment" of the proceeding, halted matters.

Had, the judge wanted to know, the victim of the attacks, the now imprisoned Orlando Lopez-Soto, been given a copy of the bargain struck between prosecutors and Morales that would leave the officer facing up to a year in prison.

Well, it turned out prosecutors had notified Lopez-Soto's lawyer but had not directly delivered a copy to the victim-prisoner. The victim, the judge said, was entitled to some time to consider the matter.

A second officer, Joseph Lawlor, was also scheduled to plead guilty in a appearance following Morales, was also put on hold by Meyer.

The third officer involved in the stomping, Clive Higgins, reportedly has not agreed to a deal with the government.

As we've noted, the victim in the case was no choirboy and is serving a five-year term for criminal possession of a firearm, of narcotics with intent to sell and failure to appear in court. No wonder he ran when police spotted him driving a van and gave chase.

What transpired after the chase, though, was outrageous. Morales and Lawlor chased him on foot, dropped him to the ground with a hit from a stun gun. And there was a second stun-gun shot, according to the police report.

With Lopez-Soto subdued, Morales and Lawlor began kicking him. Higgins, a late arrival, joined in.

The officers' behavior, even in the charged atmosphere of heated pursuit, was criminal and a blow to ongoing relations between the police department and a community that already harbors considerable mistrust and fear of the department.

The city recently agreed to pay Lopez-Soto $198,000 to settle a multi-million dollar civil rights suit.

It is a remarkable aspect of our court system, as shown by Judge Meyer, that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law.

The judge's even-handedness in stopping the proceedings to protect the rights of an imprisoned victim was a clear example of what the courts should be.

And given the mentioned mistrust and fear, Meyer's actions should also be a signal to the community that uniformed officers of the law are not above it and will face justice.

Eventually, the logistics that rightly troubled the judge will be worked out and the cases of these three officers be handled. They need to be punished for their actions and removed from a department they discredited.